Essentials: In the Kitchen

So as you may have already gathered, I love being in the kitchen. Cooking, baking, eating, listening to the sound of mixers going… I love it all. I also love sharing recipes with you all, but it occurred to me that a lot of people may not have the kitchen tools needed to cook for themselves. I’m 19- if you’re around my age, we’re getting to the point where we really should be cooking for ourselves, at least on occasion. Not only is it better for you, but it’s better for the environment and it’s cheaper. To get started, you need to get set up with a few kitchen basics:

I spent 10 minutes adding everything to my cart on amazon and the total (without the Ninja) came out to just under $100. If you spend a little more time hunting, I’m sure you could find them cheaper. When I bought my kitchen supplies, I splurged a little to get higher quality brands. Because I like to cook so much, I thought of certain items as an investment- a good paring knife, a rust-resistant can opener, durable metal measuring cups. You might opt for the cheaper stuff just so you have the basics.

As for the Ninja, it is definitely an investment. If you’re just getting started in your kitchen, though, this is going to be your blender/food processor all in one. As a true LA native, my blender is my lifeblood- I practically survive on kale smoothies. I’d heard mixed reviews on the Magic Bullet/Nutri Bullet (a few friends noticed oily stuff leaking into their drinks), so I went for the Ninja. If you subscribe to Bed Bath & Beyond emails, you get 20% off coupons- I used one of those and it ended up being around $80 and I haven’t regretted it at all.

A bit of good news for your wallet: you can just keep going back to Bed Bath & Beyond and using a different 20% off thing for each item! If that’s inconvenient, you can get 5% off at Target with a red card and they almost always have kitchen items on sale. When all else fails, Amazon is a pretty sure bet.

So there you go! A list of kitchen basics to get you started. Happy cooking!